Awww Moment

So Elliot is leaving town tonight to go on a business trip, and I asked him to clean up his stuff in the bedroom before he left since the cleaning people are coming tomorrow. For the first time (perhaps EVER) he isn't just hiding the mess and shoving everything into his drawers - he actually is sorting/organizing/putting things away! In doing all this, he stumbled across some notes I hid in his suitcases when he went down to Mississippi for a month to help post-Katrina. When I was little and went away to camp, my mom used to hide little notes in my suitcase/dresser drawers so that all summer long I'd find cute little notes that made me smile and remember someone cared about me. Elliot & I hadn't been together all that long when he left, but I decided to do the same for him. Before I could second guess my decision or whether he would think it was stupid, I dashed off some notes (just little things like "hello" and "kisses from me & Nugget" and "we miss you" or "thinking of you") and stuffed them in his folded clothes in his suitcase. Anyway, he saved a bunch of them, and he brought them down to show me today when he found them. I think it is so sweet that he saved all those notes. It kind of made me want to say "Awwww."

On Monday night, we had our final birth class! Now we just have to keep practicing what we've learned and hope it helps on baby's birth day. Yesterday was our midwife appointment - everything is progressing well (I measured 33 cms, so right on target) and the baby's heartbeat was perfect. We asked a bunch of questions about labor and delivery stuff, and we are feeling good about everything. On Friday we go in for our ultrasound to see how things are looking. From this point on, we will be doing weekly appointments and ultrasounds.

Reunion

I had an amazing weekend . . . I had an old friend from college, Tammy (whom I haven't seen since graduation), come down and visit! She was my first guest in our new home, and I was so excited to see her after so much time. She was quite a trooper - she had to endure the mess of newly sanded/refinished floors (so new, they were still in process on Friday and Saturday!), and all my furniture strewn all over the house and draped plastic walls (that looked like a scene from Dexter).

I am glad to say we still get along and had plenty to talk about. We had an amazing time touring around DC. She arrived Friday evening, and we had a relaxing night on our new couch in the Rec Room - we decided to walk a few blocks and pick up Indian takeout for dinner. We just stayed up and talked and enjoyed - and Nugget even behaved herself! The next morning, I was stuck waiting for the floor guy to show up - naturally, he was several hours late, and inconveniently delayed us. Eventually, we went for brunch at the Original Pancake House (I just love crepes!) and we just spent time talking and catching up. We decided to head to the Spy Museum that afternoon, and it was definitely fun (although I wish I'd thought of checking out the Newseum instead). We came back to meet Elliot for dinner, then popped over to a post-Iron Man celebration for my friend Jeff at a local bar. Our next stop was back downtown for a nighttime tour of the monuments! We managed to see the FDR, Lincoln, Korean and Vietnam Memorials, and we drove by the World War II and Jefferson Memorials. It really was a beautiful night - not too cold, and the rain had ceased so it was clear outside.

Sunday morning, we decided to go back downtown again. We went to the Jefferson Memorial, and drove around the Mall, then we walked by the White House. On our way home, we drove through Georgetown, and I showed Tammy a few of the wonderful parks in the area. I decided to give my "hard sell" in the hopes that she considers this area for her next job! We returned home in the early afternoon, and then she packed up her car and headed back to Philadelphia.

So, all-in-all, it was a wonderful weekend! Even better, Frank decided to be cooperative and let me do all the walking I needed to do without acting up too badly. I actually had a really pleasant few days, contractions and all! This is the most physical activity I have been able to do since 28 weeks without ending up in severe pain. I think I am starting to feel human again!

As of today, I've officially made it to my first end-of-pregnancy goal - 34 weeks! I could safely have this baby at any time now, so it is quite a relief. I have another midwife appointment and an ultrasound appointment this week, and from here on out, they will be doing weekly scans of the baby (a biophysical profile) to make sure he is still doing well. Regardless, I have only 2 weeks left until I stop the medication. While I realize that there is a good possibility I could stop the medication and the contractions could stop, I am already feeling some changes, so I have a feeling this baby will come fairly quickly after I stop taking the Terbutaline. Even if he doesn't, the fact that Frank is no longer causing me much pain is a huge relief, so I am certain I can stick it out until the baby decides to arrive.

A picture!

Thought I'd post a recent picture of us . . .

Pictures

Many of you have been asking to see pictures of our home renovations . . . so here goes! These pictures were taken the day before we moved - there are a few personal items we began bringing over strewn around in the photos, and there are definitely still unfinished parts of the house, but this gives you a good idea of what we've done! Hope you enjoy:

Living room

Kitchen

View of dining room & living room from kitchen


View of dining room and kitchen from living room


First Floor Powder Room

Stairs to upper floor


Baby's bathroom

View of upper hallway into baby's bathroom
View into baby's bedroom



Baby's bedroom
Upstairs Hallway View towards Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom Closet

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Stairs to Basement

Laundry Room

Door to utility room

Rec Room

View to Office

Office

Office Closet

Office Bathroom

We have couches!

Well, we now have furniture and a tv in the living room! We still have to mount the tv on the wall, and we have to dump some of the boxes. On Tuesday, the final piece of furniture will arrive. I'm ready to clear out the boxes and start putting up artwork. It is really starting to feel like a house! The blinds come on Thursday, and hopefully the dining room table and couch for downstairs will arrive sometime next week. Elliot needs to get his bedroom clothing in order, and we have more things to buy to finish putting everything away, but I'm finally feeling like we've made significant progress.